Tim Sylvia stops Paul Buentello in second round at "War on the Mainland"

The former UFC heavyweight champion used an effective – if not necessarily exciting – controlling strategy to wear down fellow UFC vet Paul Buentello (28-13) before earning a second-round finish.

The bout served as the main event of Powerhouse World Promotions’ first pay-per-view event, “War on the Mainland,” which took place Saturday night at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California.

Sylvia stymied his opponent with clinchwork in the corner, and for nearly two full rounds, Buentello’s only respite was referee “Big” John McCarthy’s occasional interventions.

Buentello showed a sharp jab on the rare occasions he was able to create space, but Sylvia quickly close the distance each time and turned the fight into a dirty, grinding contest. In the closing seconds, Buentello actually backed himself into the corner, and Sylvia unleashed his best flurry of the contest.

An uppercut floored Buentello, and Sylvia followed with hammerfists. McCarthy wasted little time in making a decision and stopped the fight with just three seconds left in the round.

Following Sylvia’s win, three-time UFC title challenger Pedro Rizzo entered the ring with the intentions of setting up a future fight.

Terry Martin (20-8) may have found a home at welterweight.

The former middleweight banger looked lean and fast, and his cardio did not fail throughout his 15-minute contest with Jorge Ortiz. Powerful strikes on the feet found their mark, and Martin was able to work to top position on a few occasions in the opening frame. Ortiz threatened from his back early on, but Martin slipped easily away each time.

Ortiz’s best frame was the third, when a touch of fatigue and a low blow seemed to slow Martin. Nevertheless, he powered trough to the final bell and looked primed to take a unanimous decision. Martin was forced to settle for an oddly scored split result – 28-29, 30-28, 29-28 – but he still took home the victory.

Despite taking the fight on short notice, King of the Cage veteran Tony Lopez (19-4) proved more than ready for the challenge of Jason Lambert (25-12).

Lambert opened intelligently and worked hard to close the massive reach disadvatange. His dirty boxing and clinch work proved effective in the opening round and looked just as sharp to open the second. But a brief lapse in judgment led to his demise.

Lambert abandoned the bodylock for a headlock, but he slipped off and fell to his back. As he tried to regain his feet, Lopez latched onto a Thai clinch and delivered a devastating left knee to the chin. Lambert crumpled to the canvas, and two punches caught his chin before the fight could be halted.

A former King of the Cage light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, Lopez claimed PWP’s first-ever light heavyweight belt with the win.

In a grappling match suitable for a middleweight title fight, former IFL champion Matt Horwich (25-15-1) outlasted a very game Thales Leites (17-4).

Leites took the early advantage with some heavy striking and ample top game. Horwich gave away the first round, unable to escape the bottom, though the second was an evenly contested affair. Then things really got interesting.

In the third round, Leites again worked to top position and looked to have a fight-ending arm-triangle choke in place. But as he adjusted from mount to the side and back again, working to secure the proper tension, it became obvious the move wasn’t going to work. Shockingly, after releasing the hold, Leites immediately found himself trapped in an omo plata that looked equally threatening.

Leites escaped the move after a few tense moments, but he wouldn’t be so lucky in the fourth.

Leites appeared to be fading slightly, and Horwich took advantage. Horwich moved to the back, drug the fight to the floor in rapid fashion and sunk in a rear-naked choke. The hold was trues, and Leites was forced to tap just 24 seconds into the fourth round of a fight he appeared on his way to winning.

With the win, Horwich claimed the first-ever PWP middleweight crown.

Submission ace Joao Silva (3-3) brought a wily grappling attack to the ring that made his bout with Erin Beach (2-0) very interesting – for five minutes. After that, it was all downhill.

Silva stuck to his gameplan of single-leg takedowns and pulling guard for the entirety of the contest, but Beach’s dynamic boxing and capable takedown defense left his opponent’s face a bloody mess, complete with a hematoma.

Silva’s rapid-fire submission strategy in the opening round, albeit unsuccessful, made the first-round’s score debatable, but the second and third frame were anything but. MMAjunkie.com actually scored the fight 30-25 for Beach, but only one judge agreed. The other two did favor Beach, as well, but they only offered a 29-28 score.

For MMA legend Jens Pulver (22-14-1), it was a new weight class but the same results.

Pulver moved back to lightweight for the first time since 2007 to take on Diego Garijo (5-1), but the switch netted similar results to his recent WEC contests with Josh Grispi and Urijah Faber.

Garijo caught Pulver with an early left hand and immediately latched on to a guillotine, which forced the tap in just 68 seconds. An MMA legend, Pulver has now dropped six straight fights and nine of his past 10.

In the evening’s first televised bout, submission experts Gustavo Machado (19-8-1) and Rick Reeves (8-4) elected to stand and bang for nearly all of their 15 minute affair. The action was tightly contested throughout as a barrage of punches and kicks came in from all angles.

In the end, the scores proved as wild as the fight itself, and Machado took a split-decision with scores of 29-28, 27-30 and 30-27.

As the UFC 189 tour made its last stop in Dublin, featherweight champ Jose Aldo was met with a torrent of abuse from the Irish fans. It might have been unpleasant, but it might also have been just what he needed.